It Wasn't Meant to Go Like This
by misskaterinab
Summary: Spoilers for 4x04. Blaine leaves New York after visiting Kurt without even saying goodbye. Disaster strikes, and Kurt fears that he'll never see Blaine again.


A/N: I don't know enough about Isabelle Wright to know if I wrote her in character or not. My own personal opinion based on what we've seen is that she's really sweet and does whatever she can for those people she really likes, and I can tell she really likes Kurt.

Disclaimer: This is another one of my fics I recommend suspending disbelief on. I am quite sure that a good portion of this isn't realistic, since the subject matter isn't something a lot of people have to deal with EVER in their lifetime – it's certainly not a daily occurrence. So please, just go with it.

**xXxXxXx**

The last thing Kurt Hummel wanted to do after one of the worst nights in his young life so far was head in to work, but his internship with Isabelle was hard earned; Kurt didn't want to do anything to jeopardize it by calling in sick. He trudged sleepily out of his bedroom area, rubbing the sleep and tear crusties from his eyes, towards the coffee maker. Hopefully a jolt of caffeine would help him to put on a brave face and act like nothing was wrong.

Kurt noted that the apartment was completely empty. Rachel had classes bright and early that morning, so there was no doubt that that was where she was, but he had no clue where Blaine and Finn would've run off to. He shook his head, as if that would clear his mind, and went about preparing himself for what would inevitably be one of the longest days he'd had since arriving in New York.

He arrived at the building a few minutes late. Isabelle Wright seemed to be a fairly kind woman despite the rumors surrounding her; perhaps he'd be forgiven for his tardiness. He sure hoped so.

Kurt took the elevator to _vogue dot com_'s floor and scurried to Isabelle's office. He'd been invited to use her coat closet for his things, so he hung his bag and coat inside. He hadn't even noticed that Isabelle was already at her desk, seemingly engrossed in something on her computer screen. The drone of what sounded like a news broadcast buzzed from her speakers. The reporter was speaking in urgent tones – whatever she was listening to did not sound like anything fashion related.

"Isabelle, what are you watching?" Kurt asked curiously.

Startled, Isabelle looked up from her screen at Kurt. "Oh, hey, good morning, Kurt. Actually, you may be interested in this. A flight from JFK this morning crash landed at the Columbus airport. Columbus was its final destination, but the pilots couldn't seem to set it down on the runway safely."

A chill crept its way up Kurt's spine. "A-any survivors?" he asked.

Isabelle consulted the ticker at the bottom of the screen. "Um… yeah. There are a few. The plane broke into a few pieces – the front of the plane and the parts around the wings seem to be lost causes since the engines caught fire, but they're getting some people out of the back."

Isabelle finally looked up and saw how white Kurt had gotten. Casper had nothing on Kurt.

"I-I n-need to make a couple ph-phone calls," he stammered quietly.

"Yes, yes, of course," Isabelle said.

Kurt nodded gratefully and pulled his phone from his pocket. He nearly burst into tears when he saw the lock screen – it was a picture of him and Blaine just before Kurt's life got knocked over on its ass. Just before Blaine said he couldn't do it… do _them_… anymore.

He unlocked the phone and quickly hit speed dial number one for Blaine. It went immediately to voicemail. _Of course it would,_ he thought. _If Blaine was going to be on a plane, he'd've turned it off._ Feeling more and more sick to his stomach by the moment, Kurt tried Finn next. Thankfully, Finn picked up on the second ring.

"Hey, little bro," he answered. "How are you doing after the shitfest that was last night?"

"Um, Finn? Where are you?"

"I'm still in New York. I heard that Ripley's Believe It Or Not! in Times Square had a giant Bumblebee Transformer and I just had to go see it before I went home."

"Please tell me that Blaine is standing right next to you enjoying the giant robot as you speak to me," Kurt ordered.

"Oh, no, sorry man. Blaine went home. You and Rachel were sleeping pretty hard this morning, but I woke up early and was raiding the fridge when Blaine headed out. Said he was gonna catch a cab to JFK and head back to Ohio. Actually, he's probably there by now – you should give him a call…"

But Kurt hadn't heard his suggestion. He was on the floor, collapsed in a heap, out cold. Finn called Kurt's name multiple times after he had been subject to the sound of the phone clattering to the floor through the speaker. It hurt his ear, but his concern was for his brother.

Finally, Isabelle noticed that Kurt's phone was still intact and that there was a frantic voice shouting from the other end of the line. While ordering her other employees to retrieve smelling salts and get her doctor friend on the phone, she took over Kurt's phone call. As Finn and Isabelle filled each other in on what caused Kurt to break down, Isabelle looked at Kurt with concern and sympathy. Kurt hadn't been in her employ for very long, but already she felt a kinship with him, and her heart broke knowing that the probability of Kurt's pain growing exponentially in the next few hours was rather high.

Isabelle asked Finn to come to her office as soon as possible and disconnected the call. The employees settled Kurt as comfortably as possible on the couch in Isabelle's office before scurrying off to complete their own tasks, as well as Kurt's and some of Isabelle's, for the day.

Kurt came to before Finn had had a chance to get to them. He looked up in confusion for a moment, and then Isabelle had the displeasure of watching Kurt's face fall as realization slammed into him.

"Please, dear god, tell me I fell asleep on the job and dreamed this whole mess up," he pleaded with her.

"Sorry, kid," she said sadly. "This is real."

Kurt curled in on himself and began to cry, and Isabelle puttered around helplessly in her office until a very tall young man burst through the door. "Where's my brother?"

Kurt, upon hearing Finn's voice, looked toward the door, and Finn stopped in his tracks. This was bad. Really bad. He thought he had seen Kurt sad and upset before, like last night when Blaine broke it off with him, or when Kurt didn't get into NYADA, but this… this was nothing Finn had ever seen before, or was prepared to see.

A single thought entered Finn's mind. "Is he… I mean, have you heard anything?"

Kurt shook his head miserably. "Not yet," he whispered hoarsely.

"You call Burt yet?"

He shook his head again.

"You gotta call Burt. You need your dad, man."

Kurt nodded and patted his pockets for his phone. Isabelle hopped up from her desk and handed the phone to him. He looked up at her, hoping his eyes conveyed his thanks, and she dropped her hand to his shoulder and squeezed comfortingly.

Kurt stared at the phone for a long time, willing himself to make the phone call to his dad. He was having a hard time convincing himself to hit the call button; as soon as the call connected, he knew he would have to break the awful news to Burt and start dealing with the likely outcome that he had lost Blaine for good.

Finn noticed Kurt's apprehension and pulled his own phone out of his pocket. "You want me to do it?"

"No… well, yes. Please," he said softly.

Finn sat down on the couch next to his brother and wrapped his arm around Kurt. Obviously he was considerably bigger than Kurt, but Kurt had never seemed so small to him as he did in that moment.

The call rang just once, and Finn barely uttered a greeting before a voice boomed from the speaker. "Finn! Thank god you're all right! We've been watching the news coverage all morning. Why haven't you been answering your phone? Your mother and I have been worried sick!"

Finn pulled the phone away from his ear for a moment, and sure enough, there were several missed calls. He must've accidentally put it on silent after speaking with Kurt's boss. He was just about to apologize when Burt continued. "Anyway, I'm so glad you're safe."

"Um, Burt, hi. Um yeah, I wasn't on that plane, but, uh… Blaine was."

Finn heard a gasp from the other end of the line, and then complete silence. It lasted for so long that he pulled the phone away from his ear to make sure the phone call hadn't dropped.

Finally, Burt spoke again. "And how is Kurt?" he asked, afraid to hear the answer.

Finn glanced at his brother, who was staring blankly at the wall, unmoving. He sighed and said, "Honestly? He's at least twice as bad as you're probably imagining in your head. They went to bed last night not speaking, and Blaine left without saying goodbye to Kurt."

"Shit," Burt swore, surprising Finn. Burt had a bit of a temper, but he usually didn't curse. Though Finn had to admit, if there was an occasion for cursing, this would probably be a good time for it.

"Dad?" Kurt choked out, reaching for the phone. Finn handed it over to him.

"Daddy," he whispered. "Help me."

"Oh buddy," he said, trying to keep the sound of his tears out of his voice. Burt Hummel did not cry often – in fact, he could count on one hand the times he had: his first wedding, Kurt's birth, his wife's death, his second wedding, and sending Kurt on his way to New York – but the tragic news combined with the fact that he was not there in person to help his son deal with the aftermath had silent tears streaming down his face. "Put me on speaker, kiddo. Finn needs to hear this, too, and I'm sure you don't feel like repeating anything."

Kurt obeyed and set the phone down on the table in front of them.

"Dad, I need to come home," Kurt begged. "I need to be there if… if…" He couldn't finish, refusing to complete his thought as though saying it would make it true.

"I know, son, I know. I know you're kind of broke at the moment so I'll go wire you some money right now – "

"I'll give him the money," Isabelle broke in, immediately rummaging in her drawer for the petty cash she kept there.

"I'm sorry, who's this?"

"Isabelle Wright, Kurt's boss," she said. "He was with me when he found out. I'll give him the money so he doesn't have to delay his return any longer."

"Thank you, Ms. Wright – I'll have Kurt pay you back when he returns to New York… whenever that is."

"Don't worry about it, Mr. Hummel. I'm glad to help."

"Finn, you've already got a ticket, right?"

"Dad, I'm not going on a plane!" Kurt interrupted, already starting to panic.

"Whoa, hold up there buddy. I'm not asking you to get on a plane. I just want Finn to call the airline to get his money refunded, and then you and he can come home another way. I don't know if I want either of you driving. You okay with a train, maybe?"

Kurt nodded, forgetting that his father couldn't see him.

"Yeah, he's cool with that," Finn said for him.

"Okay, you boys make some phone calls and then let me know your plans and Carole and I will make whatever arrangements we need to. I'll try to make some calls, see what I can find out on this end. And in the meantime, Kurt?"

"Yes?"

"When airplanes crash, the airlines usually set up some sort of passenger status hotline. Maybe you could see if the airline has one and see if there's any information."

"Okay Dad," Kurt agreed.

"I'll see you boys soon. I love you and be safe."

"Love you too, Dad," Kurt murmured, and Burt disconnected the call.

Isabelle, lurking in the background and waiting for anything she could do to help, had already searched the internet for any sort of information she could find, and sure enough, a hotline for friends and families of the crash victims was available. She read off the number and Kurt dutifully typed it into his phone, but he had a hard time pressing the connect button. And who could blame him, really – this phone call had the potential to make him a very happy man… or to devastate him. He took a few deep breaths and tried to mentally prepare himself for the news he might hear in mere moments.

"Kurt?" Finn asked.

"I'm… I'm okay. I can do this. I will do it. I just need a minute…"

With a shaky finger, Kurt pressed the call button only to be greeted by a nasally recording – "Your call is important to us" and "Your call will be answered in the order in which it was received."

After several minutes, a live human voice came onto the line. "Thank you for calling the Delta airlines hotline. My name is Mary Anne. May I help you?"

Startled, Kurt stumbled over his words but finally managed to greet the person on the other end of the line. "Uh yes, um hi. Um, I'm looking for information on my boyfriend? Please?"

"Of course, sir," Mary Anne said. "His name please?"

"Blaine Anderson."

"Okay, please give me a moment to check my flight manifest."

Kurt waited the longest minute of his life. After what felt like an hour, the woman came back on the line. "Okay, I do show a Blaine Anderson on this flight." Kurt couldn't hold back a whimper. "I don't see him on my casualties list, but he's not on my survivors list, either."

"But what does that _mean_?" Kurt cried.

"Just a sec… okay, I DO have two John Does on my survivors list. Maybe Blaine is one of those."

Kurt felt a shred of hope surge through his body. "Can you tell me about the John Does? My Blaine is seventeen and short with dark curly hair and – "

"I'm so sorry, sir, but I don't have any information other than the fact that we currently have two unidentified men waiting for their families to find them."

"But why would they be unidentified?" Kurt asked.

"It's possible that they were unconscious when they were found and no ID was on their person at the time. I don't really know, I'm sorry."

"No, no, thank you. Can you please tell me where I would go to find the John Does?"

"Everyone who survived the crash was taken to Columbus General to be assessed and treated."

Kurt sighed heavily. "Thank you for your help, ma'am. "

"You're quite welcome, sir, and I really hope you find your Blaine."

"Me too," he said, and he clicked off his phone.

He turned to face Isabelle and Finn, who were eagerly awaiting his news.

"Well, he's not listed as dead, but he's not accounted for, either."

Finn looked confused. Well, more confused than usual, since confusion was a normal expression for Finn. "So… now what?"

"We go home and hope like hell one of the unidentified men they found is Blaine."

"We can do that," Finn said, feeling better that there was finally something he could actually do for Kurt. He hopped up off the couch and caught Kurt's hand, dragging him to his feet as well. "We should go. If we're not flying and Burt won't let us drive, we've got to get to the train station."

As Kurt was lifting his satchel to his shoulder, Isabelle tucked a wad of bills in the outside pocket. "Please Kurt, keep me up to date. Take all the time you need, your internship will be safe until you get back."

Kurt hesitated a moment but then threw all caution to the wind and wrapped his arms around the woman. "Thank you," he said sincerely. "You have to be the sweetest boss there ever was."

"Don't let that get out. I have a reputation to uphold, you know."

Kurt cracked a small smile and allowed himself to be pulled out of Isabelle's office. "Bye Kurt! Good luck!" he heard her call as he stumbled along behind his long-legged, fast walking brother.

"C'mon," said Finn. "I think there's a train leaving in an hour. Do you need a bag or do you have enough stuff in Ohio to last you a few days?"

"I never thought I'd say this, but I think I'll just risk it. There is nothing I care about enough here in New York to risk missing the next train out."

Finn had been right – by the time they got to the train station, they had just enough time to purchase tickets and begin boarding. They took their seats, and not long after the train pulled out of the station, Kurt's eyelids began drooping. Finn urged Kurt to rest his head on his shoulder, and it wasn't long before Kurt had completely passed out.

When Finn was sure Kurt wouldn't wake up for awhile, he took out his phone and composed a quick text.

_Rach – Blaine on crashed plane in Columbus. Taking Kurt home on train to see if he's alive. Don't want to stay upset with you. Want you to know I love you._

Without waiting for a response, Finn turned his phone off so any incoming messages wouldn't disturb Kurt's much needed rest. Finn found himself grateful for the opportunity to tell Rachel he loved her – he felt bad knowing Kurt may not have any more chances to do the same with Blaine.

**xXxXxXx**

Kurt ended up sleeping most of the twelve hour trip. Finn was starving, bored out of his mind, and he had to pee like crazy, but nothing short of a nuclear bomb could've caused him to push Kurt out of his lap. Kurt always did so much for him, and there wasn't always much that Finn could give Kurt in return, but he could give Kurt this. He could give him comforting arms, even if they weren't the ones Kurt truly wanted, and even if Finn could've used a pair of comforting arms himself. After all, Finn had been dumped, too. Sitting in the same position with nothing to do for such a long time had given him plenty of time to reflect, something he hadn't really had time to do yet. He wasn't sure what he was going to do going forward, but he knew what he was going to do now: throw himself into being the best big brother he could possibly be in whatever capacity Kurt ended up needing him in.

But first, he HAD to use the restroom. He was just contemplating the best way to wake Kurt when Kurt began to stir. _Thank GOD,_ Finn thought.

"Hey, Kurt, you gotta wake up," Finn urged.

Not opening his eyes, Kurt smiled a bit and tried to snuggle closer to Finn. But Kurt must've sensed there was something wrong and frowned. When he did open his eyes, his face fell.

"Oh, it's you," he said dejectedly. "I'm sorry. Have I been here this whole time?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Why didn't you shove me over? You must've been bored senseless."

Finn shrugged. "Yeah, but you needed this. I really didn't want to wake you."

"Thanks," Kurt said softly. He really did have a pretty great brother. "Where are we?"

"Best as I can tell, we're about forty-five minutes out of Columbus. Burt'll be there to meet us and drive us to the hospital so you can go claim Blaine."

"_Maybe_ claim Blaine. The odds are stacked so high against me that I will need a miracle, Finn," Kurt said, turning his head so Finn wouldn't see him wipe away the new stream of tears that had begun to run down his cheeks.

"I don't know, Kurt. I believe miracles happen. And I definitely believe you and Blaine aren't supposed to be apart. Me and Rachel – I love her to death, and I'd do anything to keep her, but I don't think it's supposed to work out for us. But you guys are supposed to give me nieces and nephews with big brown or blue eyes and awesome singing voices that I can teach to play drums and play football with. I just… I have a really good feeling that this ain't the end, you know?"

Kurt felt a fresh wave of love for his brother. "You really think so?"

"Yeah, I really do."

"_Attention all passengers! We will be arriving at the Columbus station in approximately ten minutes. Please collect your belongings and prepare for disembarkment at this time."_

"Sounds like we're closer than I thought, little bro. Guess I'll just pee in Columbus."

Kurt tried to laugh, but couldn't; he felt his nerves kicking into high gear. He began to tremble from the extreme stress. Finn noticed Kurt's distress and picked up Kurt's messenger bag, which was the only thing he had brought with him. "Whatever happens, Kurt, Burt and me and everyone – we'll be there for you. We're not gonna let you do this alone."

Moments later, the train pulled into the station and the passengers began to leave the train. Kurt, simultaneously anxious to get going and dreading the news that could possibly be waiting for him at Columbus General, found it hard to get himself moving. Finn wrapped his arm around Kurt's shoulders and moved him for him.

"C'mon, Kurt. It's time."

As promised, Burt was waiting for the boys right outside the station, and Kurt barely had himself buckled in before the vehicle took off for the hospital. Kurt curled himself into a little ball as much as the seatbelt would allow and rested his cheek against the cool passenger side window. Burt was obviously speeding; the trees and buildings outside whipped past them faster than Kurt would've thought. Usually Burt was the type to go five under the limit, but not that day.

It was after 10pm when they finally arrived at Columbus General, which was normally well past visiting hours, but the hospital staff was making an exception for the families of the victims of the crash. Burt walked up to the reception desk to get instructions from the nurse behind the desk, but Kurt stopped him.

"I need to do this myself, Dad," Kurt said, and Burt stepped aside.

"Hi. I'm looking for my, um, boyfriend," he said, stumbling over the word boyfriend. "He was in the crash. I called the hotline earlier today and they said he wasn't listed as dead, but he wasn't listed as alive, either, but that you had two John Does here so I'm here to see if Blaine is one of them. That's his name – Blaine Anderson. Can you help me?"

The nurse frowned as Kurt rambled out his story. "Well, certainly. But I have to tell you, one of our John Does passed away a couple of hours ago." Kurt had to grab onto the edge of the desk to keep from falling. Burt helped him to his feet and stood behind him, keeping him upright. "But the other one is still alive!" she was quick to say. "Damndest thing, really. He's the only one they pulled out with not so much as a scratch on him. Physically, anyway. He was in shock when he got here, which is probably why he went unidentified. A bunch of us tried to get him to talk, but he just wouldn't."

"May – " Kurt's voice cracked on the word; he cleared his throat and tried again. "May I see him?"

"Of course! If he's yours, we'll be able to send him home with you; we've only been hanging onto him because we wanted to make sure he had somewhere to go, and that's kind of hard when they're not talking to you. Follow me, please."

The nurse led Kurt, Burt, and Finn down a long corridor to a room at the very end. "John" was sitting cross-legged on top of a made-up bed, his hands loosely clasped and his head bowed. A heartbreakingly blank look was on his face. Burt was the first one in the room, his body hiding the man from Kurt's view. Burt took one look at the man sitting on the bed and it was all he could do not to make a sound. He wanted to run and gather him up in the biggest hug he could possibly muster, but he knew the honor of being the first to do so belonged to Kurt.

If Burt's lack of reaction was any indication, Kurt knew he was right not to get his hopes up that Blaine was the occupant of this room. But to cover all his bases, he stepped all the way into the room and looked toward the bed.

And gasped.

"_Oh BLAINE!_" he cried.

The sound of Kurt's voice snapped Blaine out of the daze he was in, and he whipped his head around to lay his eyes upon the owner of the voice so quickly Kurt could hear his neck crack.

"Ouch, honey, don't hurt yourself!"

Blaine nearly fell off the bed as he scrambled to rush to Kurt, and Kurt barely had time to open up his arms to catch Blaine as he threw himself at Kurt.

Blaine buried his face in Kurt's shoulder, mumbling, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," non-stop. Kurt felt his shirt becoming quite damp, and it wasn't until Burt handed Kurt a tissue that he realized that he was crying as well.

"Oh Blaine, thank god, thank _god_ you're all right," he said, trying to keep from squeezing Blaine so tight that he'd hurt him. But it just felt so _good_ to have Blaine's warm body in his arms after a full day of fearing that he'd never have that privilege again.

"But you don't believe in God," Blaine said, his words still garbled.

"Blaine, even I have to admit there had to have been some higher power out there keeping you safe. Whether it was some sort of deity or fate or karma or whatever, I'm grateful. I'm SO grateful, Blaine."

"Me too, Kurt. I'm so _sorry_, I made a mistake, please don't ever leave me," Blaine sobbed.

"It's okay, Blaine, it's okay. Everything's gonna be all right."

And it would be. Because if a plane crash couldn't even pull them apart, they could survive just about anything.


End file.
